Manipur student organisations ask BJP to clear air on claim of 'deal' with rebels

 UKLF chairman SS Haokip had — in a two-page representation to Union home minister Amit Shah on June 7, 2019 — made the claim about helping the BJP in the 2015 district council polls, 2017 Assembly polls and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections

Umanand Jaiswal, TT, Guwahati, 18.06.23 : In the 2017 Assembly elections in Manipur, the BJP won 21 seats and the Congress 28 in the 60-member Assembly. : Representational picture

Six student organisations from strife-torn Manipur have asked the central BJP leadership to clarify its stand on the claim by a Kuki militant outfit that it helped the party in the 2017 Assembly elections, or risk facing a “boycott”.

In a joint statement on Friday, the six organisations said: “We demand the central BJP leadership to clarify its stand on the claims made by the UKLF (United Kuki Liberation Front).

“Otherwise, the people will boycott BJP and root out the party from the soil of Manipur. The Election Commission of India should also take up appropriate action on the claims made by UKLF.”

UKLF chairman S.S. Haokip had — in a two-page representation to Union home minister Amit Shah on June 7, 2019 — made the claim about helping the BJP in the 2015 district council polls, 2017 Assembly polls and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Haokip had said the UKLF had helped the BJP in 2017 “as agreed upon” by BJP leaders Ram Madhav and Himanta Biswa Sarma.

In 2017, Madhav was BJP general secretary in charge of the Northeast while Sarma, now chief minister, was a cabinet minister in BJP-run Assam. Madhav has denied the claim while Sarma is yet to respond.

The UKLF is party to a suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the government since 2008, which entails that neither the militant group nor the security forces are to take any hostile action against each other. A total of 24 Kuki rebel groups are part of the SoO agreement.

The six student organisations have claimed in their joint statement that people are “unhappy” with the government for “not” acting against the violation of ground rules by the Kuki rebel groups that are party to the SoO agreement.

The student organisations have also flagged the “silence of the Centre” on the continuing violence.

Their statement said: “At a time when the people are questioning the silence of the Centre (in the) aftermath of the killing of civilians by Kuki militants, the UKLF has claimed that they had backed the BJP candidates in 2017 election.

“This has further strengthened the fear and suspicion among the common people against the government. People are suspecting that the Centre is not taking any action against the Kuki militants because of the help these militants provided to BJP during elections.”

The six students’ organisations are the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), Manipuri Students’ Federation (MSF), Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), Kangleipak Students’ Association (KSA), Students’ Union of Kangleipak (SUK), and the Apunba Ireipakki Maheiroi Sinpanglup (AIMS).

Their statement said it was possible that the Kuki militants had supported the BJP during elections after receiving an “assurance” that their demand for a separate administration would be considered.

“If this is true, then the Government of India is playing divide and rule in Manipur. It is time for the people to fight against the Government of India’s divide and rule policy,” it said.

The students’ organisations have demanded that 50 of the state’s 60 MLAs travel to Delhi immediately and “warn” the Centre that they would resign if the Union government does not protect the state’s territorial integrity and abrogate the So0 agreement.

“If any MLA or minister fails to do it, people of Manipur will take a decision to throw them out of Manipur,” the joint statement said.

The remaining 10 MLAs are from the Kuki-Zo community. They are camping in Delhi for an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the Manipur situation. They want a separate administration on the ground that their community no longer feels safe living in the six Meitei-majority valley districts.

A 10-party Opposition delegation too is in Delhi to meet the Prime Minister.

In the 2017 Assembly elections in Manipur, the BJP won 21 seats and the Congress 28 in the 60-member Assembly. But the BJP still managed to form the government — for the first time in the state — by cobbling together a majority with the help of other parties.

The ruling BJP has begun facing the heat in Imphal for the continuing violence. The official quarters of a state minister (Nemcha Kipgen) and the private residence of a Union minister of state (Rajkumar Ranjan Singh) were torched by mobs in Imphal on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Singh has reacted by saying that law and order has collapsed in Manipur.

On Friday night, a mob vandalised the BJP office at Thongju in Imphal East. It also targeted the homes of Assembly Speaker T. Satyabrata Singh and state BJP president A. Sharda Devi but the attempts were foiled.

Local people said the situation had been tense since Friday evening. Sources said Satyabrata and a few BJP MLAs are in Delhi to meet central leaders.

The violence broke out on May 3 after a solidarity rally in the tribal-dominated hills opposed the demand by the majority Meitei community for Scheduled Tribe status.

The violence has left over 110 people dead and 60,000 displaced despite heavy deployment of the army and central paramilitary forces.